Canadian Transformers fans will have one less place to hunt for the latest figures, as Target has announced this morning they plan to exit the Canadian retail landscape and close all 133 locations after less than two years in operation.

Target expanded into Canada in March 2013, and after a much-ballyhooed debut, failed to impress Canadian shoppers with aisles full of empty shelves and noticeably higher prices than their US stores. “This is worse than Zellers ever was,” said one Allspark News reporter who asked to remain anonymous. “At least the shopping cart escalator is kind of cool, I guess.”

Citing a failed nationwide launch in Canada and more than $1 Billion in losses in their first year alone, the not-entirely-unexpected announcement came down this morning.

“After a thorough review of our Canadian performance and careful consideration of the implications of all options, we were unable to find a realistic scenario that would get Target Canada to profitability until at least 2021.”
– Target CEO Brian Cornell

On the plus side, there may be some deals to be had as target liquidates stock before they shut off the lights. The CBC has a full report on this developing business new story.